We Are Metal
by Kat713
Summary: Opens with a flashback of Lin's childhood. Chapter 2 will be aboutwhat she was thinking and feeling at the end of Turning the Tides.
1. Chapter 1

"Now try to hit me." Toph Beifong said, slapping her hands together, grinning like a maniac. Her ten year old daughter, Lin stood across from her, blindfolded.

"Mom, I-"

"Don't go soft on me, Lin. Hit me."

"But mom, I can't-" she caught the word just in time.

"Can't what? Can't see? That never stopped me." Lin blushed for a second. Mom hated when people wouldn't speak their mind just because they were afraid of upsetting her. "I see with my feet, Linny, you know that. Now I'm gonna teach you to do it. Can you see anything with your eyes?"

Lin didn't dare lie to her and adjusted the cloth over her eyes till she saw nothing but darkness. "Now feel the ground. Wiggle your toes, dig your heels in. Don't bend anything yet but focus on what bending _feels_ like. Focus on that moment before the earth bends for you, the very second you tell the earth _move for me_." Lin wiggled her feet a bit, thinking. What _did_ bending feel like? She imagined herself, a shadow of herself, her spirit, reaching out and lifting the ground up. "Now bend something. Something small."

The moment before the earth parted for her, Lin felt something. Something, her spirit or the force of her own willpower flooded out of her the second before the ground between her feet cracked. Her mother remained silent as the stones surrounding them. The quiet was broken by the far away calls of turtle ducks and the gentle rolling of pebbles displaced by the crack she bent into the ground. She clenched her fists and jerked up. When she felt it again she focused on her feet. And when a pillar of rock lifted up out of the ground she felt it as much she heard it. "Mom," She whispered, "I think I felt something."

"What was it, Linny?" Lin wondered if her mom was smiling.

"I felt something go out of me. I felt the rock move when I heard it."

"Just listen. Dig your feet in and listen." Lin heard her mother dig her heels in just before she heard the crunch of rock on rock. Lin froze. The only sounds were the chatter of turtle ducks and the distant sounds of the city behind them. She breathed deeply, waiting. And after half a dozen heart beats, there it was- the tiny rustle of clothing as Toph Beifong slammed her arm forward. Time seemed to slow down as she focused every bit of her being into her ears.

A sharp whistle sounded to her left. _The rock_ she realized suddenly- the whistle of the rock cutting through the air around them. Lin threw her palm to face the ground, twisting, smiling as the circle of earth she stood on rotated to the left. She remembered the clay disks stacked behind her and punched toward the sound, sending a disk soaring towards it. When she heard the crash of clay on stone, she cheered, ripping the blindfold from her eyes. Bits of pebbles and dust showered them as they smiled at each other. Toph jerked her arm back and the circlet of ground under Lin's feet raced toward her mother, gouging a tiny valley in the space between them. When she was close enough, her mother snatched her up and spun her around in a tight hug.

"I did it mom, I did it." Lin shouted tightly clutching her mother's arms. "I heard your arm move before the rock lifted and I even heard it move through the air." Lin suddenly noticed the tears on her mother's face. She reached up to brush them away. "Oh don't worry, Mama. I've got it now. I'll get better soon." Toph laughed, shaking her head.

"You silly badgermole. They're happy tears. I'm so glad you can finally see what I see." Lin smiled as a thought struck her.

"Will I be able to catch people when they're lying now too, mama?"

…


	2. Chapter 2

She woke suddenly groaning in pain. _Spirits, what happened?_ Memories flooded back to her in a tidal wave. Pema's water breaking just as airships came into sight, defending Air Temple Island with the children, sending them off on the sky bison, destroying one of the airships, being bound and electrocuted... Her heart seems to fall out of her chest- Korra and her friends. She might have saved the last airbenders only to lose the avatar. Her heart shatters. She hasn't wept openly since the death of her mother but she wants to now. _Oh, spirits. _She won't let them see her tears but she can pray._ Just let Tenzin and Pema and the children be okay. It will be worth everything to keep them safe._

She's startled when she feels a drop of water hit her neck. She lifts her head from the floor to look around. Night has fallen and it's beginning to rain. She's lying on her side bound, head to foot. Four equalists surround her. She turns her head to the side and sees nothing but the bay. She groans. They've put her at the end of one of the docks- far away from her element. Her eyes fall closed and she takes a deep breath. On the exhale she listens like her mother taught her. Listened with her ears and her body. She could hear the tiny patter of rain on the boulders on the beach, the soft splash it made on the sand.

She'd been in worse situations. The boulder was far away but not far enough. Her hands curled into fists as she focused tightly on the boulder she knew was closest. It barely gave a wiggle before a hard boot slammed into her chest. The air whooshed out of her lungs and she curled in, protecting her belly and chest.

"Don't try it again, _Chief_." He said, pointing back to the island. She blinked the rain out of her eyes. Four or five men knelt in a line surrounded by equalists- the white lotus guards. "Or I'll be kicking them instead." Her heart ached. They'd stayed to protect the island while she and the airbenders fled. She let her head fall back against the old wood of the dock. She nodded slowly, watching him. The masked equalist flexed his hand covered by the electric gauntlet but made no other move.

_He'll come for me. _Paralyzing fear soaked through her skin and into her bones. _He'll take my bending. he might even kill me._ It felt as if she had a gaping hole where her heart should be._ I'm Chief of Police and just single handedly took out one of his airships. I helped the airbenders and the avatar escape. I am an Earthbender, daughter of the greatest Earthbender in the world. _She recalled the way her mother looked in an old photo on the wall. She wore that ridiculous Earth Rumble belt and stood surrounded by her first Metalbending Police Squad. _I am Lin Beifong, Chief of Police. _The day Lin was named Chief of Police, it was Toph that pinned the badge on her. She had tears in her eyes and when they hugged she whispered _"I am so proud to call myself your Mama". _She'd then smacked her arm and joked, _"Heck, you might even be as good a Chief as me!" _

_ "We are iron, Linny baby, we are metal" _her mother would say to her when she felt down. _"Metal is part of the earth that's been refined and purified by being heated, melted and pounded. Life isn't easy, Sugar. We all go through pressure and pain. But you and I? Metals like us only get stronger."_ Her heart aches. Oh she misses her mother. Memories of training with her mother brings ber thoughts back to Tenzin and Pema's children. The memory of them tossing equalists around like toys makes her smirk a bit. _I just saved an entire race. Let him take my bending. Let him take everything I have, so long as they are safe. I'm still metal. He's not enough to break me. _

A hand grabs a fistful of her hair, yanking her up. "Get up. He's here." She struggles to her feet, wincing as her neck is pulled back. The equalist behind her keeps a tight hold on her hair, and holds his sparking gauntlet just over her neck. Rain is falling into her eyes but she can still see the airship about them. Amon is riding the small wired platform down to the ground. The equalist behind her tears off most of the ropes but binds her hands at the wrist before putting his hand back to her throat and twisting the other in her hair. For a second, she considers attacking him. She wouldn't even need her bending, he's close enough. She could take out half of them even with her hands bound. Her heart clenches when she remembers the White Lotus guards behind her. If she attacked Amon, they would likely kill the others, if only just to punish her. She turns to them.

"It'll be okay. This isn't over yet." The man behind her yanks hard on her hair.

"Shut up." He barks.

Amon and several more equalists walk towards her. She glares at him blowing her hair out of her face. When he stops in front of her, the equalist shoves her to her knees. _I am metal. He cannot break me. _She takes a deep breath before looking up at him. "Tell me where the Avatar is and I'll let you keep your bending." She glares at him.

"I won't tell you anything, you monster."

"Very well." He steps behind her. She sighs and lets her eyes close. His hand falls to where her shoulder and neck, fingers tilting her head back. When his thumb touches her forehead her eyes fly open. She's paralyzed, her whole body seems to freeze as she stares wide eyes up at the airship in the sky. When he releases her she falls to the ground, face first. She stares out at the temple unblinkingly. _I'm sorry, Aang. I did everything I could to protect them. _A drop dripped down her nose but she couldn't say if it was the rain or a tear. _If you can hear me, Aang, if you can hear me, mother- keep them safe. Please, please keep them safe. _


End file.
